Tuesday, December 31, 2013

These aren't the best photographs I've ever taken, but you can at least see the card, inside and out. It's getting dark outside, and the light is even worse inside, so I used what light I could get on the deck.

This is a card I saw at Lisa's blog, iminhaven.blogspot.com/ (not sure of her last name, but she's very talented in her creations). I immediately got the supplies needed, including Papertray Ink's Wonderful Words: Love set of stamps and one die. This card took some time to create. First, you have to die cut the word three times, making sure it's lined up and cut straight. Then, you coat the heart from the die cut with either red Stickles or Glossy Accents, or both. Then, for the inside, you layer the die cut word, LOVE, on top of one another, which isn't easy to glue. Finally, you coat that with Glossy Accents and finish up the inside of the card. I layered the white Gina K Design's Pure Luxury card stock with Red Cranberry card stock by the same designer. I liked the deep red behind the white, but the original card had white on white.

Hope you like this new card I created. It's going to be Valentine season soon, so I thought I'd go ahead and get started.

So glad you are here. I enjoy your visits AND especially your comments, as they encourage me to continue on this creative journey.

I created this card to send to my son, Chris, and his girlfriend, Katie. Christmas was extra special this year, as I stayed with them during the holidays. It's been way too long since we had a holiday together. Family is what holidays are for, after all!

The paper from Studio Calico, called Classic Calico, was found in my Christmas stocking (thank you, Chris!). The sentiment is from my stash. Ink is from Stephanie Barnard's Stamps of Life. The card is for my son and his girlfriend, not for any challenge this time. Surprise!

Thank you for stopping by. Your visits and comments mean a lot to me, and they keep me moving forward on this creative journey. My best to you for a Happy New Year!

Friday, December 20, 2013

Here's another Love card for the challenge at Gina K Designs. I used a heart embossing folder for the base layer, then added a punched heart (punch from Anna Griffin) layered onto pink. Finally, I added a gingham ribbon.

Thanks for stopping by! I won't be posting any next week, but I hope and pray you have a wonderful holiday season. Your visits and comments are very much appreciated!

Created this card using gold and red foil sheets after embossing the image and sentiment (from Gina K Designs) with gold embossing powder. I think this is one of the more elegant cards I've created this holiday season.

Thanks for stopping by! I won't be posting any next week, but I'll be thinking about you and hope you have a wonderful holiday season!

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

My first "Love" card for the upcoming Valentine's season. This was created for a challenge on Gina K Designs which required we include something love related. I simply included the word Love to go with these beautiful flowers. This image was a free-with-purchase stamp set at Gina K Designs, and I love it! The background patterned paper is from their Petals and Wings patterned paper set, which I also adore.

Thanks for stopping by! I appreciate your visit and comments very much. Hope you are having a good week, and I look forward to seeing you again soon!

I saw a similar example of this card on Facebook and decided I'd give it a try but with my own twist. I used green and red inks from Stephanie Barnard's Stamps of Life, a ribbon from my stash, and various snowflake stamps and sentiment from Gina K Designs. I also added a touch of Stickles glitter on the snowflakes. This was a quick and easy card to make, so I highly recommend this if you still have multiple cards to create in a short period of time.

Christmas will be here before you know it, so creating these holiday cards is winding down for me. I'm sending some out every day as I think about it, trying to come up with some kind of standard Christmas list as I go along. That would certainly help when it comes time to send cards next year!

I appreciate your visit and comments very much. Please know you are in my thoughts & prayers during this holiday season. I am very thankful for you and what you have added to my life by your visits. Hope you are having a good week and are taking time to enjoy the season. See you again soon!

Friday, December 13, 2013

This card was created for Gina K Designs' Stamp TV Limited Supply Challenge. I used: one image-the snowflake; one sentiment-Season's Greetings; one piece of patterned paper from the Season's Greetings Stamp TV Kit; at least two layers-I had a total of four; at least two different colors cardstock-I have green and red; and, three different types of embellishments-two red brads, ribbon and a silver star in the middle of the snowflake.

Thanks for coming by today! I appreciate your visits very much. Please don't forget to leave a comment before you go!

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Thanks for stopping by! I created this card for an interesting challenge at Gina K Designs. We are to put together a card with: one image, one sentiment, one piece of patterned paper, at least two layers, at least two different colors of cardstock, and three different types of embellishments.

For this card, I included one sentiment and one image from Gina K Designs' Christmas Joy set by Rupa Shevde; one piece of patterned paper from their Winter Whimsy patterned paper collection; total of four layers; Red Hot and Pure Luxury White colored cardstock; a star gem on top of the tree, four brads, and one piece of black and white gingham ribbon.

Hope you like this! I had fun putting it together. Please don't forget to leave a comment before you go, as it always encourages me to continue on this creative journey.

Sunday, December 8, 2013

This card was created using the Emboss Resist technique. I stamped the snowflakes (from Gina K Design's Christmas Joy stamp set by Rupa Shevde) in VersaMark ink, then sponged ink (also from Gina K Designs) over top. Colors used include Fresh Asparagus, Honey Mustard, Ocean Mist and Powder Blue. I layered onto black cardstock and added the message, which is from their Only God stamp set. Finally, I added a ribbon in Ocean Mist.

This has to be one of my favorite cards with such beautiful colors and a significant message. Hope you like it as much as I do!

Thanks for stopping by! Please don't forget to leave a comment before you go, as they keep me motivated to continue on this creative journey. Hope you are having a good Sunday!

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Here's a new card I created using the Season's Greetings Stamp TV Kit from Gina K Designs. This, too, was for the challenge where we were to use a different color ink than black for the sentiment. The little package on the bottom corner of the card is from Simon Says Stamp Holiday 2013 Card Kit. They are made by Little B, and I think they are adorable! The ribbon is from my stash.

So sorry for the poor quality of the picture. Today is a very dreary day outside, and it is difficult to get the light right for pictures. This was the best I could do after about a dozen tries!

Thanks for stopping by. I appreciate your visit, and your comments are more than welcome! Have a great weekend!

I created this card for a challenge at Gina K Designs with the restriction of no black ink for the sentiment. The image and sentiment is from their Season's Greetings Stamp TV kit and the paper is from their Merry Little Christmas patterned paper pack.

Thanks for stopping by! Please don't forget to leave a comment before you go!

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Just had to say a big THANK YOU to Kevin Mowery, who worked hard to get the new banner in place! All I said was, "I'd like it to be light blue perhaps, with snow and some sign of Christmas on it." We looked and looked and looked, and finally came up with the new design. Way to Go, Kevin, and THANK YOU!

Monday, December 2, 2013

I created this card for a Mix It Up Monday challenge at Gina K Design's Stamp TV. The rules were to use any color but black on the card -- no black allowed. I heat embossed the sentiment and the image with white embossing powder, then layered it on Spellbinder's Fancy Ovals. The background paper is from the Gina K Design's Season's Greetings Stamp TV kit. The blue is just gorgeous!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. It's good to have you back! I appreciate any comments you'd like to leave before going! Thank you!

Friday, November 29, 2013

Above is a picture of me in Boston with my brother, Craig, (in the chef's coat) and sister, Cecilia, with her husband, Rich. We had a fabulous Thanksgiving. My brother is a wonderful chef at home, an entrepreneur at work. With friends and family, we prepared and ate mulled cider, two turkeys, corn casserole, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, acorn squash, two gravies, green beans, broccoli with pasta, sweet potato pie, pumpkin pie, apple pie and rice pudding. I'm STILL full!!!

I am so glad I made the trip! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving together yesterday and have spent today relaxing at a luxury movie theater while watching the sequel to Hunger Games, and then relaxing at Craig's house in front of the fire. The only thing missing is my two sons, Chris and Coleman. They are many, many miles away, working and sharing the holiday with their friends. I don't think anybody should have to work on Thanksgiving!!!

Thank you for stopping by! I appreciate your visits more than you know, and I hope you, too, had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends. There's nothing like it!

Monday, November 25, 2013

This week I'm taking a step back and thinking about gratitude instead of Christmas. Thanksgiving is in a few days, and with the upcoming storm I'm not sure I'll be able to be with family as expected. Whether I am with them or not, I do have a "harvest of wishes" for each of them during this holiday season, bundled up with a whole lot of love!

Thanks for stopping by, and just in case I don't get another card posted in the next day or two, may you have a blessed Thanksgiving holiday!

Saturday, November 23, 2013

This has got to be one of my favorite Christmas cards this year. I used Rupa Shevde's Christmas Joy stamp set from Gina K Designs. The image and sentiment are heat embossed in gold and layered onto ivory chocolate brown cardstock before placing on an ivory card base. You can see one layer is embossed with a dotted embossing folder.

I hope you like this card as much as I do. It seems to be very elegant, so I will save it for someone extra special...or maybe keep it as an example for myself before I make more.

The weekend is passing by, so get busy and have some fun! Before you go, don't forget to leave a comment to let me know you were here. I love reading what you have to say, and it sure helps motivate me to continue on this creative journey!

I created this card using Gina K Design's Cheers stamp set. I heat embossed the image and sentiment in white embossing powder, then layered onto ivory cardstock after adding a piece of ribbon across the front. The patterned paper is also from Gina K Designs, included in the Seasons Greetings Stamp TV kit along with the cranberry base layer cardstock. This card is so pretty. Embossing the image and sentiment in ivory ink would have worked as well.

Thank you for stopping by! I hope you are having a good weekend. Please don't forget to leave a comment before you go--I appreciate it very much!

So sorry for the bad photo. The weather is terrible today and it's hard to get good daylight.

This card was created for the last day of Holiday Card Workshop 2013. Following Kristina Werner's video lesson, I created a scene using trees from Stephanie Barnard's Stamps of Life after sponging on some Tim Holtz Distress inks. Finally, I layered a piece of vellum over top that had the sentiment heat embossed in silver.

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you are having a wonderful weekend. This is the end of the Holiday Card Workshop 2013, but of course I won't stop creating cards! You can be sure I'll be taking more Online Card classes in the future and following other videos in the meantime. Have a good day!

Friday, November 22, 2013

Here are two cards I created with the Season's Greetings Stamp TV kit from Gina K Designs. I absolutely love this kit! There are so many wonderful, big stamps that offer endless possibilities for holiday cards!

I created these cards following videos by Gina K at Gina K Designs. She is a wonderful teacher and mentor, and very easy to follow. Her products are top quality all the way. I highly recommend her. Check out her site at stamptv.ning.com.

Thanks for coming by today! I appreciate your visit, and appreciate your comments even more! Have a good weekend!

This is the second card created for Holiday Card Workshop 2013, Day 5, where we created cards for males and females. This one is more feminine in that I added more color and ribbon.

I used the same snowflake stamp but heat embossed it in white this time rather than silver. I also kept the die cut snowflakes in white. I also heat embossed the sentiment in white after adding the ribbon.

Thanks for stopping by! I hope to see you again soon! Take it easy, and don't forget to leave a comment before you go! They mean the world to me and keep me motivated for continuing on this creative journey. Have a good weekend!

Today's class was about His and Her Holiday cards. I will show you the masculine card here.

First I heat embossed a snowflake in silver, then die cut two snowflakes in white before heat embossing them in silver. Covering them in silver embossing powder was a bit tricky, but holding onto them while using the heat gun was even worse! I finally accomplished the task for both snowflakes, then used wet glue to adhere them to the layer of silver paper. I also heat embossed the sentiment before layering them onto Gina K Design's Red Hot cardstock. Finally, I put all that on top of a base layer of white cardstock.

Thank you for stopping by today! The next post will have feminine card. As always, I appreciate your comments very much. You keep me going on this creative journey!

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

I think this is one of my favorites from the Stamp TV Season's Greetings kit. The coffee mugs are stamped in Gina K Design's Warm Cocoa ink and layered on patterned paper. There are several layers to this card, but I think it looks pretty good. Kind of makes you want to go fix a cup of warm cocoa, doesn't it?

Thank you for stopping by! I appreciate your comments -- they are true motivators to keep me moving forward on this creative journey. Hope to see you again soon!

Here's another card I created while following one of Gina K Design's Stamp TV videos. I used a stamp from the Season's Greetings Stamp TV kit, which is full of (mostly) large stamps, cardstock, designer patterned paper and ribbon.

Thank you for stopping by! As always, your comments are always motivating for me, and I appreciate your kind words. Hope to see you again real soon!

This card was quite a challenge! The outside was easy, but the inside took me all afternoon. It has an inside layer with two cut layers inside of that, then it has layered pieces across the top and bottom. All of this was made with the Gina K Design's Season's Greetings Stamp TV kit, which was my early Christmas present to myself. I have never purchased a Stamp TV kit before, and now I know what I've been missing. There are lots of stamps, which are mostly big, and also has designer patterned paper, cardstock, ribbon and brads.

This card was created following one of Gina K's instructional videos, which you can find on the Stamp TV site (stamptv.ning.com/video). She is very thorough in her demonstration, and you will learn a lot if you check it out.

Thank you for stopping by! I have two more cards I created from this kit, so far. There will be more! I appreciate your comments very much, and I look forward to seeing you again soon!

Monday, November 18, 2013

Here's my last, final card for Day 4 of Holiday Card Workshop 2013. Aren't you glad? I've bombard you with holiday cards, haven't I? Good thing we have one day in between classes or else you'd really be overwhelmed!

Following Kristina Warner's video, I used the back of a long stamp, hoping it would give me one long solid stripe. Well, that obviously didn't happen! It has dots all over it! Oh, well. I went ahead with it anyway. I used the same Memento Luxe inks (which are rather thick) that she used but in different colors. Then I took a stamp from Stephanie Barnard's Stamps of Life and stamped the love birds, with a heart in between. Unfortunately, the ink smeared a little bit on the bird's feet, but I chose to continue despite that error. Hope it's not REAL obvious! Maybe the bird is moving his feet, you think? I can hope!

Thank you for continuing to visit. If this is your first visit, I appreciate seeing you here! Comments are more than welcome. I love reading what you have to say -- I learn from your words and always hope to improve as I continue on this creative journey. Have a wonderful day!

This is my least favorite of those I made today, but I followed instructions given by Shari Carroll. She was on a roll today, giving us two videos with multiple cards each! She was hard to keep up with, but she did teach me more about how to "Stretch Your Holiday Stamps" which was the title of today's class. I used stamps from Stephanie Barnard's Stamps of Life, colored them in with Stampin Up! markers, then stamped my sentiment on two pieces of paper, just as Shari showed, before layering them onto a red piece of paper and adding gems. I think I'd like this better if the sentiment was not split like that, but I followed directions and did it this way. I'll probably add either Glossy Accents or Stickles to the Christmas lights to make them glisten.

Thanks for stopping by! I enjoy your visits very much and really like your comments! Please come back again soon. I'll be lookin' for you!

This is similar to the card with the reindeer, but this time I heat embossed the sentiment in silver first, THEN I added the trees on top using Hero Arts Shadow Inks from Simon Says Stamps. I was surprised the trees didn't cover up the sentiment! In fact, I was so sure of it I almost didn't stamp on top of "rejoice" because I was afraid I'd cover it up! Well, what do you know? You can still see it, just fine! After getting over that surprise, I added Washi Tape at the top and Baker's Twine at the bottom. Shari Carroll's instructional video was easy to follow, and I enjoyed creating while watching & listening to her demonstrate.

Thanks for coming by (again)! I sure do appreciate your visit, and I hope you'll leave a comment before you go. That's important to me, and your words keep me motivated to attend yet another day of class on Wednesday! Hope you're having a good Monday!

Today's Holiday Card Workshop was about Stretching Your Holiday Stamps. The image on this card, from Gina K Design's, was inked first in Gina K Design's Honey Mustard ink. Then, I heat embossed the sentiment (from same stamp set) in silver on top of the image. I cut this out, rounded two of the corners, added twine, then placed on top of one strip of burlap ribbon and two strips of Washi tape. I like this card a lot, and it was fun to create, following Shari Carroll's instructional video. She's quite creative and is wonderful at putting multiple layers on her cards.

Thanks for stopping by. I have three more cards from today that you can see under separate headings. I am enjoying this class immensely, although I know I'm flooding you with many, many holiday cards! Just hang in there with me, and before you know it I'll be moving on toward Valentine's Day cards! Can you imagine?

I enjoy your comments a lot, and I thank you very much for stopping by. Your words are very inspiring, and they motivate me to continue on this creative journey. Have a good Monday!

Sunday, November 17, 2013

I found a card in the Gallery at OCC's Holiday Card Workshop 2013, Day 3, that I just love, so I had to COPY it for myself! Thank you, Jen D, whoever you are--from class, I know that) for the opportunity to see and then try such an awesome card. This is so elegant and lovely!

I dry embossed white cardstock with a snowflake embossing folder, leaving the middle part blank at an angle. It didn't make a very deep impression toward the bottom left, but next time I'll remember that and do it differently. The middle has a strip of cranberry cardstock, then another white layer, heat embossed with the sentiment. I just love this!!! It's so crisp and clean. I think this is another one I'd be happy to reproduce in multiples.

Thanks for stopping by again. I know I'm flooding you with cards right now, but the class has kept me very busy trying new things, and I'm not about to stop now! (Just a warning there...) Hope you had a good weekend, and I hope to see you again soon!

Here's a card I hesitated to make. Shari Carroll did an excellent job demonstrating this, but it has so many elements I felt almost too overwhelmed to create it. By today (Sunday), I finally caved and gave it a shot.

I absolutely love this glitter paper. Like I've said before, it's so flexible yet durable it's feels almost like soft plastic, although it is very easy to cut with my trimmer. The window that's cut out is made from a die from Stephanie Barnard's Stamps of Life. The sentiment is a stamp from Gina K Designs. If you've checked out my previous cards, you'll realize these are my two favorite places to find good, quality products.

Thanks for checking this out. This was definitely a card that took me way out of my comfort zone, but I'm glad I tried it. I appreciate your comments very, very much, and I hope you'll come back soon!

The navy cardstock, designer paper and ribbon are all from Gina K Designs' Season's Greetings Stamp TV kit, and the word die is from WPlus9, purchased from Simon Says Stamps (my Christmas present to myself). I absolutely love this card -- the word diecut, the paper, and the ribbon! I think I finally found a Christmas card I'd enjoy creating in multiples and sending out. WooHoo!

Thanks for stopping by. I appreciate your comments very, very much--they keep me going, believe me! If you're from Online Card class (well, even if you're not!), I enjoy seeing your creations and look forward to seeing more. Hope you've had a good weekend, and I will see you again soon!

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Today we were shown some cards created by teen crafters. This is my take on a card created by Tanner Bell. I layered a piece of paper with a red and white design on the card first, then cut out part of the design from a second piece and layered it on top. I added Stickles to create some sparkle. The sentiment was added on top of a piece of ribbon across the bottom of the card.

I have wanted to create this card ever since I saw an example using the same paper in a card magazine several years ago! Today, after seeing Tanner's card, I finally had the motivation to do it. Obviously, the design is a little different than your typical Christmas card, but I like it.

Here is a close-up of the piece I put on with pop dots:

Thank you for stopping by! I appreciate your comments very much. As you know, they serve as a great motivator to keep on creating, even on the most challenging of days. Hope you are having a wonderful weekend. See you again soon with another card from class!

Friday, November 15, 2013

For today's class we were shown an example of a card with the images stamped on an angle, like this. I used paper and stamps from Gina K Design's new Season's Greetings Stamp TV Kit. Love this snowman! Colored slightly with Copic markers and added a strip of paper across the angle before tying on a piece of Baker's Twine with a bow.

Thank you so much for stopping by! I love reading your comments, and it is good to see some familiar people out there from former Online Card Classes. I am thoroughly enjoying your cards, too! Please come back soon. Have a good weekend!

Thursday, November 14, 2013

For the second day of the Holiday Card Workshop, we learned how to "suspend" snowflakes on our cards. Stephanie Klauck provided a video on three different ways to do it, and here are my takes on two of them. The picture above shows the snowflakes dangling in open space, connected by fishing wire that's adhered on the top and the bottom of the square. I added a small frame around the square for appearances.

The below shows you how I glued the snowflakes on a clear transparency, both front and back, so they appear to be in mid-air on the card. I added an extra piece on the inside with the designer paper on one side that opens to blank paper on the other side so you have a place to write a message.

Here's another card I've added that's just like the first one, but different paper:

Thank you for stopping by! I enjoy your comments very much--they motivate me to keep going, even on the most challenging days of class!